Field of the Invention
This invention relates to carbonators and more particularly to in-line carbonators including gas-driven water pumping means that delivers water under pressure to the in-line carbonator for mixing therein with carbon-dioxide gas exhausted from the gas-driven pumping means.
Certain known carbonators use piston pumps to deliver water under pressure to a carbonator tank which contains an atmosphere of carbon dioxide gas. While such pumps are commonly motor driven, other such pumps are known to be actuated by carbon dioxide gas under pressure, and the gas exhausted from the pump is then dissolved in the water delivered under pressure by the pump. Devices of this type are described in the literature (see, for example, U.S. Patents 4,304,736 and 3,756,576 and 4,518,541). Devices of these types rely upon a pressure vessel to store a volume of water in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide in order to promote the solution of the gas in the volume of water. In certain carbonators particularly suited for home consumer applications, it is desirable to reduce the costs and bulk associated with pressure vessels and electric motor driven pumps. One scheme for eliminating the bulk of pressure vessels is to continually combine carbon dioxide gas with water in an on-line device as carbonated water is dispensed. Devices of this type are also described in the literature (see, for example, U.S. Patent 3,761,066).
Many of the aforected prior art devices are configured for commercial applications where size, cost, carbonating efficiency, and the like, may not be primary design considerations. For example, in the aforementioned U.S. Patent 4,304,736, inlet water first passes through a turbulator 43 and then into a pressure-vessel type of carbonator 12. There, the turbulator is reported to provide some substantial benefits degassifying the inlet water.
However, this carbonator with its inlet precarbonator/turbulator 43 appears to provide no substantial advantage in having the dissolved atmospheric gasses separated and in gaseous form upon entering the carbonator 12. These atmospheric gasses would normally come out of solution anyway during efficient carbonation in carbonator 12. Either with or without the turbulator 43, the partial pressures of the gasses present would equilibrate within the vented carbonator vessel and would be substantially swept away in either case by any excess carbonating gas provided. Also, such turbulator 43 as a precarbonator does not appear to provide sufficient carbonator efficiency alone to use without the carbonator vessel. In addition, the configuration of components in the carbonator system described in this patent is not conducive to convenient fabrication in a single, compact, low-cost unit suitable for applications such as in home refrigerators since only some components are cooled and others are segregated and not cooled.
In certain carbonator applications, for example, for disposition within a refrigerator or for submersion in a reservoir of cooled water, it is desirable to eliminate electrical components and extraneous electrical wiring. Thus, it is desirable to eliminate electrical valves and control switches in such applications without compromising versatile carbonator operation. Carbonators having various features which may be considered pertinent to the present invention are also described in the literature (see, for example, the U.S. patent references cited herein).